Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1984
- Class:
- 1930
The Tom Stark Award is presented annually to Marshall’s top defensive football player, and its namesake was said in the 1931 Marshall yearbook to have received, “the highest honors ever won by a Marshall player.” Playing fullback and linebacker or safety at 175 pounds, Stark – born in Dundee, Scotland, then moved to Florida and later Huntington with his family – was described as an outstanding runner, passer, punter, scorer and tackler, and in 1927 and 1928 was among the nation’s top scorers as he led the team with 14 and 12 touchdowns, respectively, helping Coach Trusty Tallman’s team take the '28 West Virginia Intercollegiate Conference title with an 8-1-1 record.
As a freshman in 1927, Stark scored the first two touchdowns of the game as Marshall defeated Broaddus College in his debut, then returned a late interception 91 yards for a touchdown to salvate a 6-6 tie against a highly-favored John Carroll University squad. Later, against Louisville - undefeated and another prohibitive favorite over Marshall - he rushed the ball 40 times for 179 yards and four touchdowns as the Thundering Herd logged a 37-6 victory. Late in his freshman season he had a direct hand in all five touchdowns in a 33-6 win over Fairmont, scoring three touchdowns himself and also blocking a still-standing school record three punts, two of which were returned for Marshall scores.
Stark became a team captain as a junior under new head Coach Johnny Maulbetsch, who coached Stark for his final two years. Stark was named to the All-WVIAC team three times, and was also a forward for the Marshall basketball team and on baseball teams that went a combined 43-14, winning three straight WVIAC crowns. When Stark’s playing career came to a close, Dandelet immediately made him an assistant coach, a position Stark held until Dandelet was replaced by Cam Henderson in 1935.
Stark then went on to a very successful career in the mining industry, rising to the position of chief engineer with the Dingess Rum Coal Company and Coal & Crane Real Estate Trust, served terms as president of the Marshall Alumni Association, Big Green Club and the Huntington Rotary Club, was a trustee of the Seventh Avenue Methodist Church and secretary of the Guyan Golf and Country Club.
In 1977, Stark’s son, Bill, established the first endowed athletic scholarship at Marshall in his father’s name. Stark was inducted into the Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984.
